CEILI RELIGIOUS ﻿AND EVANGELISATION

“Fromthe beginning of the Church, there have been men and women who have chosen to live in a radical witness to Christ by imitating him as closely as possible in his poverty, chastity and obedience.

In the course of the centuries, this commitment became more and more visible through the establishment of monasteries, religious orders and congregations and other types of institutes. Men and women professed publicly evangelical “counsels” (vows) of poverty, chastity and obedience and committed themselves to stability of life within communities.” (Irish CCC for Adults)

Consecration: A Unique Way of Loving and Witnessing to Christ in the World

The Consecrated life is based upon the example of Christ, the poor, chaste and obedient One. The Church treasures this gift which serves as a visible sign to the world of the Kingdom of God here on earth and of the Kingdom yet to come in Heaven.The Churches’ mission of Evangelisation is a participation in God’s Mission and is rooted on the revelation that God is Love (1 Jn.4:16). Consecrated life has promoted this mission in many different ways down through the centuries from apostolic times. On His return to the Father, Jesus sent His Spirit to live in our hearts, enabling us to be his witnesses in the world (Jn.15:22). All Christians are called to continue Jesus’ witness through the indwelling Gift of the Spirit.

Those who live a life consecrated to God profess the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience in a stable state of life recognised by the Church. They solemnly promise to surrender themselves to God with an undivided heart, thus liberating themselves to serve God, the Church and the needs of others.

“In their finite humanity, on the margins, in their everyday struggles, consecrated men and women live out their fidelity, giving a reason for the joy that lives in them. So they become splendid witnesses, effective proclaimers, companions and neighbours for the women and men with whom they share a common history and who want to find their Father’s house in the Church.” (Rejoice! A letter to consecrated men and women in preparation for year of Consecrated Life by Pope Francis)

The Vows: Deepening our Understanding

The essence of consecrated life is centred on the three Evangelical Counsels (Vows). Through the vowed profession of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience individuals dedicate themselves totally to God by a special consecration, in a diversity of forms and charisms in the ecclesial community. The challenges facing our rapidly changing world have opened up new insights with regard to the vows. However their essence and origin are firmly established in the Word of God, and go right back into the Old Testament, and are exemplified perfectly in the life of Jesus in the New Testament. “This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this

Through vowed consecration a person makes a radical commitment of ‘undivided love’ to God (1Cor.7:35), after the example of Jesus, who lived justly, loved tenderly and walked humbly with the constant desire to do the Will of His Father.

These words help to deepen the fundamental understanding of the vowed life which challenges consecrated persons in particular, to labour earnestly and confidently for the full realisation of the ‘Kingdom of God’ which Jesus came to establish. (Jn. Ch.10:10; 2 Cor.5:17)

“Consecrated life is a call to incarnate the Good News, to follow Christ, the crucified and risen one, to take on “Jesus’s way of living and acting as the Incarnate Word in relation to the Father and in relation to the brothers and sisters”.(23) In practical terms, it is a call to take up his way of life, to adopt his interior attitude, to allow oneself to be invaded by his Spirit, to absorb his surprising logic and his scale of values, to share in his risks and his hopes. “Be guided by the humble yet joyful certainty of those who have been found, touched and transformed by the Truth who is Christ, ever to be proclaimed”.(24)”(Rejoice! A letter to consecrated men and women in preparation for year of Consecrated Life by Pope Francis)

Evangelical Poverty: Acting Justly

As the question was asked of Jesus “what good work must I do to receive eternal life?” He responded “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you possess and give the money to the poor and you will receive treasure in Heaven. Then come back and follow me.” (Mt 19:17-21)

Religious take Jesus at His word and so in order to be his radical disciples, they make a vow of poverty, in which they handover all appropriation of money and property and live a simple lifestyle relying on the Providence of God to provide for all their material and spiritual needs.

Evangelical Chastity- Loving tenderly By embracing chastity ‘for the sake of the Kingdom of God’ (Mt.19:22) consecrated persons centre their whole being on Christ with the preferential love of an undivided heart. (1 Cor. Ch. 7:35). They freely chose to live a life of celibacy not because marriage is not valued, but because some have felt that God is greater than marriage.

“Those who are not married are concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please Him.”(1 Corinth7:32)

Evangelical Obedience: Walking Humbly with God In the vow of obedience the individual vows to live in openness to the Spirit, seeking to surrender totally to God’s Will through prayer and discernment, according to a particular Rule or Form of Consecrated Life. They also submit their will to the government of their Superior who is a representative of Christ and manifest God’s will for both the individual consecrated person and the community as a whole. This brings great liberty to the person as they know once they are obedient to their Superior they are indeed being obedient to Christ Himself.

Obedience is essentially about listening to and doing God’s Will after the example of Jesus whose food was: “To do the will of the Father who sent Him and to complete His work” (Jn.4:34) “It is necessary that listening to the Word of God should become a life-giving encounter which draws from the biblical text the living word which questions, directs and shapes our lives”.

Those Religious called to work with Céilí

‘The Eucharist is the source and summit of all Divine Life in the church.’

Hence at the centre of all forms of Consecrated Life is the invitation to ‘full, active, conscious participation’with Christ in the Eucharist, which is also at the heart of Céilí Community and Mission. This relationship with Christ is enhanced and deepened, through communal and or personal prayer, accompanied by a simple Gospel lifestyle based on the Beatitudes.

The nature of the Consecrated Life is both contemplative and prophetic. It has the challenging task of responding to the “Signs of the Times”. There are profound changes taking place at present in our world and in the Church. This shift is very evident in Consecrated Life today, as the members endeavour to take on board the Teaching of Vatican II and subsequent relevant Church Documents, especially those on Evangelisation. The Church to which the Religious and Ceili belong is charged with the task of spreading the Gospel. But there is another truth that lies at the heart of the Church’s Mission- a Gospel preached is inadequate without a Gospel radically lived. With this in mind the Consecrated Life lends a prophetic cutting edge to the task of proclamation which is at the core of Ceili’s charism. In this way Religious can radiate vibrancy within Céilí. In turn, Céilí offers Religious a different avenue in which to explore new forms of Community living and apostolic endeavour.

Religious who make a commitment to join Céilí are merely saying ‘yes’ to the Church’s exhortation: “From the inexhaustible and manifold richness of the Spirit come the vocations of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, whose members because of the dedication to the service of the Church deriving from their consecration, have an obligation to play a special part in missionary activity…No one witnesses more effectively…than those who profess the consecrated life in chastity, poverty and obedience, in a total gift of self to God and in complete readiness to serve humanity and society after the example of Christ”Sr. Kathleen Lynch F.M.D.M.

Working with Céilí Community

Sr. Mary Loughman

I am a Sister of Mercy and have spent most of my life teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools where I was involved in Religious Education and other subjects. I have also been involved with Scripture Prayer Groups and Neighbourhood Retreats.

During the last three years I have been working with the Céilí Community, which I have found very exciting, challenging and supportive.

The transition from my original lifestyle to travelling around Ireland in the work of the new evangelisation was not too difficult because the prayer life, interests and apostolate of Céilí are quite similar to a Religious Community. Our lives are centred on the Eucharist where we are drawn into the mystery of Christ and we are urged to share that mystery with others. We celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours especially Morning and Evening Prayer. Personal prayer is of utmost importance to us during which we open ourselves to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and receive strength to follow Jesus in our daily lives.

Working with the Céilí community for the last three years has challenged me to be faithful to my Religious Life commitments as I pray and work with priests, other religious, lay people both married and single, who are living deeply their sacramental calling by living according to the values preached and lived by Jesus. The charism of Céilí Community is evangelisation; a calling, which I feel, is a continuing of my work in Religious Education, leading others to a personal relationship with Christ. My work now involves house-to-house visiting, inviting people to come to the particular parish mission, encouraging them to follow the way of Jesus. I also sometimes work in schools and I am involved in prayer ministry and liturgy, when necessary, during the preached missions. We meet many wonderful committed Catholics in various parishes who are a source of hope and inspiration to us. Please support us by your prayers; come join us in the work if you hear the gentle voice of Jesus calling you to this very valuable and dynamic type of work.